Spicy Chard Soup Food

WHITE BEAN-CHARD SOUP

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and cook until the vegetables are golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the beans and broth, bring to a simmer and cook 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the roasted peppers, minced garlic and cilantro and cook until the garlic is soft, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chard, cover and cook until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Scrape the contents of the skillet into the pot and simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Toast the bread, then rub with the whole garlic clove. Serve the soup with the bread and lemon wedges, if desired.

SWISS CHARD SOUP WITH LENTILS

Steps:

• Wash the chard and with a knife separate the leaves from the stems. Chop the stems and slice the leaves (but keep leaves and stems separate).
• In a large pot or Dutch oven warm the olive oil, add onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add the garlic, all the spices, give a good stir, and cook for a further 20-30 seconds.
• Add the lentils, the chopped stems and the broth (alternately, warm water will work too). Bring to the boil.
• Reduce to medium heat, cover with a lid and cook until the lentils are soft, it will take about 15-20 minutes.
• Once the lentils are done, blend part of the soup with an immersion blender (alternately, transfer part of the soup into a highspeed blender, but be careful, it's hot and in this case you might want to turn the heat off and wait 5 minutes until it cools down a bit).
• Add the Swiss chard leaves and half of the coriander, push them down with the back of a wooden spoon, and cook for about 3 minutes until the leaves are tender but still bright and green.
• Turn off the heat, taste and adjust the seaoning adding more salt and pepper according to your taste. You might want to adjust the consinstency too, feel free to add a bit of warm water if you wish to thin out the soup.
• Serve with extra chili flakes if you like, chopped coriander leaves and lemon juice (about a quarter of lemon per serving is fine, don't skip it!). Enjoy.

VERMICELLI AND SWISS CHARD SOUP

Steps:

• Place the tomatoes, garlic, onion and Serrano chiles into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the blended ingredients and saute over medium heat until reduced and thickened, about 4 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the Swiss chard and simmer for about 10 minutes. Salt to taste.
• Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Beat in the yolks one at a time with a pinch of salt. When well combined, crumble the uncooked vermicelli into the eggs and add the cheese. Stir until the vermicelli is well coated.
• Heat 1/4 inch olive oil in a large skillet. When hot, add 3 inch dollops of the egg and vermicelli mixture to the pan. Cook until lightly golden on the underside, about 1 minute. Turn and fry on the other side. Drain on paper towels. Add the vermicelli drops to the broth and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes. Carefully turn the vermicelli once. Serve in deep bowls with 2 vermicelli drops in each.

SPICY SWISS CHARD

Steps:

• In a large skillet over high heat, add oil, red pepper flakes and garlic and toast the garlic until golden brown. Add chard and toss quickly. Stir in a splash of white wine. Cook and toss until liquid evaporates and chard is wilted. Add the sugar, season with salt and serve.

SWISS CHARD AND RICE SOUP

Steps:

• Trim the bottoms of the chard stems. If the stems are thin and fibrous, separate the leaves and discard the stems. If they are wide, separate the leaves and cut the stems into 1/4-inch dice. Set aside with the celery and onion. Wash the leaves in 2 changes of water and chop medium-fine.
• Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot and add the onion, celery and chard stalks. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes, and add a generous pinch of salt. Continue to cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are tender, another 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the stock or water, bouquet garni and rice. Bring to a boil, add salt to taste, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes.
• Stir the chard into the soup, cover and simmer another 10 minutes. Add freshly ground pepper, taste and adjust the salt. Serve with fresh lemon wedges for people to squeeze into their servings if desired and Parmesan for sprinkling.

SPICY CHARD WITH GINGER

Steps:

• Separate stems and leaves from Swiss chard. Chop leaves and dice stems small. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high. Add chard stems, minced peeled fresh ginger, and jalapeno slices; cook until stems soften, 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add chard leaves, cover, and cook until wilted, 3 minutes. Uncover and cook until tender, 4 minutes.